# Sherlock Holmes and Shag Tobacco



## Z.Kramer (Jul 2, 2009)

I have working my way through The Complete Sherlock Holmes, and as we and everyone else know, Holmes smokes a pipe. Apparently the smoking is a great aid in solving mysteries.

But anyway, shag tobacco is mentioned when Holmes smokes and I was wondering if shag refers to a flavor, a specific type, a cut or what? Watson also refers to the blue smoke it creates a couple times.


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## stoked (Nov 30, 2009)

Hi ZK,


I'm hooked on the Holmes series' too. I read an internet article on Holmes lore that said shag tobacco was the strong cheap stuff - an affordable all day tobacco of the times. It stated that since Holmes had such a strong habit that he preferred it that way. I like to think he would have been siping something with a little more depth - but who knows.


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## Savvy (Jun 23, 2007)

I've always just assumed shag tobacco was ribbon cut tobacco?


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## commonsenseman (Apr 18, 2008)

Savvy said:


> I've always just assumed shag tobacco was ribbon cut tobacco?


Correct sir, shag is a very finely cut tobacco.


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## stoked (Nov 30, 2009)

Here's an exerpt from the article I read:

*"Sherlock Holmes does seem to have settled on the cheapest and*
*strongest tobacco he could find, for everyday smoking at least. And*
*Watson, in the early stages of their acquaintance, did the same, for*
*in _A Study in Scarlet_ Holmes asks if Watson has any objections to*
*strong tobacco, and Watson replies that he always smokes 'ship's'*
*himself. 'Ship's' is corded plug, formed by placing the leaves of an*
*inexpensive tobacco - in Watson's day, quite probably the inferior*
*"Nicotiana rustica", rather than the now universal "N. tabacum" - on*
*top of one another in a long row, then rolling them up and compressing*
*them, originally with a thin cord, though machinery was used on a*
*commercial scale later. When the resulting roll was a very thin one,*
*the tobacco was called 'pig-tail,' and this form was widely smoked,*
*or, in the days of wooden hulls, when burning tobacco would have been*
*a fire hazard, chewed, by sailors.*

*'Ship's' can still be found at specialist tobacconists, but is not*
*recommended for those of a weak constitution. The mere act of lighting*
*the pipe produces a concentrated blast of tar and nicotine at the back*
*of the throat, which makes breathing extremely difficult. There is no*
*taste as such, only a harsh, rasping sensation, and the fumes and*
*smell are 'acrid', just as Watson describes them in _The Hound of the*
*Baskervilles_. A marvellous line by the underrated Nigel Bruce, in one*
*of his films with Rathbone, sums it up very well: 'Fresh in*
*here. Smells like a pub after closing time.'*

*If Holmes' before breakfast pipe consisted, as Watson says in "The*
*Engineer's Thumb", of plugs and dottles from yesterday's smokes, and*
*if he had been smoking 'ship's' yesterday, then it is not surprising*
*that he sometimes left his breakfast - and other meals - untouched.*

*Holmes remained faithful to his early love, the strongest possible*
*tobacco, frequently asking Watson to arrange for vast quantities of*
*'shag' to be sent round. 'Shag' is a generic term for any rough-cut*
*tobacco, but Holmes usually insists on the strongest available."*


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## WWhermit (Nov 30, 2008)

Here is a link to a page given by Michwen. It gives an excellent demonstration of different cuts of tobacco, of which shag is one.

WWhermit
ipe:


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## Z.Kramer (Jul 2, 2009)

Thanks guys.

From these answers, I have some idea of the type of stuff Holmes smoked, and I know I cant go looking for shag in hopes that it will be was Holmes smoked.


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## Zeabed (Apr 23, 2009)

Shag is indeed a fine ribbon cut, but back in Holmes' day it was a generic term for the cheapest pipe tobacco then available, acrid, bitter and strong - just as Holmes apparently liked it. In France it was called _caporal_ and relegated to the soldiery and the working classes to this day, I think.


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## Habanolover (Feb 22, 2006)

I recently bought this tin just because it is named Sherlock Holmes.


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## mugwump (Jun 7, 2007)

If you've ever used an electric pencil sharpener the very fine shavings that it creates are almost identical to shag cut tobacco. Just don't try smoking the stuff.


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## Commander Quan (May 6, 2003)

This is why Holmes never would have smoked out of a Calabash, the pipe which has become synonymous with the character.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Dredging this thread up to ask, Would Kendal Kentucky be a suitable smoke for Sherlock? Strong, shag, bad room note. Guess not all that cheap, but he probably wouldn't mind it, huh?

How about Five Brothers? ("Pinkerton" gives it a little of the right flavor, too. :wink


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## TommyTree (Jan 7, 2012)

freestoke said:


> Dredging this thread up to ask, Would Kendal Kentucky be a suitable smoke for Sherlock? Strong, shag, bad room note. Guess not all that cheap, but he probably wouldn't mind it, huh?
> 
> How about Five Brothers? ("Pinkerton" gives it a little of the right flavor, too. :wink


I always think of Five Brothers when I think of shag, it qualifies in cut, cost, and, if you smoke it too fast, flavor. KK would work too, at least as far as the cut. I've had both. They're both worth smoking and keeping in stock. Unfortunately, I haven't, but I'll alleviate that before too long.


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## Nachman (Oct 16, 2010)

I always imagined G&H Dark Birdseye as being a Holmsian tobacco.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Nachman said:


> I always imagined G&H Dark Birdseye as being a Holmsian tobacco.


Most definitely! We know it's got to be strong.


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## AStateJB (Oct 13, 2011)

Very interesting thread! Thank you for bringing this one back up for air, Jim. I enjoyed getting a little history of Holmes and also got a bit of pipe knowledge in an entertaining and informative way. :thumb:


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## geinman (May 30, 2013)

Try 4 Aces regular. Though not exactly a shag cut, it is close. It is strong and cheap, just like what Holmes smoked. Be Warned!, it smokes hot and fast, and can blister a new pipe easily.


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## Variables (Dec 2, 2009)

TommyTree said:


> I always think of Five Brothers when I think of shag, it qualifies in cut, cost, and, if you smoke it too fast, flavor. KK would work too, at least as far as the cut. I've had both. They're both worth smoking and keeping in stock. Unfortunately, I haven't, but I'll alleviate that before too long.


100% Agree!!! Five Brothers might have been something Sherlock Holmes might have smoked... Drum pouch tobacco also comes to mind. Come to think of it, has anybody here tried Drum in a pipe? Been ages since I have seen or smoked the stuff.


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## steinr1 (Oct 22, 2010)

Zeabed said:


> Shag is indeed a fine ribbon cut, but back in Holmes' day it was a generic term for the cheapest pipe tobacco then available, acrid, bitter and strong - just as Holmes apparently liked it. *In France it was called caporal and relegated to the soldiery and the working classes to this day, I think.*


Yep. It is rough stuff. I got a taste today of what I am sure was Caporal Brun in an estate pipe. I'm glad it isn't my daily smoke, although I do enjoy the occasional French tobacco. This is "pure tobacco" as far as I know - no casing, no topping. And no better for that. The "Export" is more readily available (when I last looked a few years ago) and far preferable.

Probably is the type of tobacco that the famous fictional character preferred.

I saw the fact (let's remember that this is all fictional...) that dear old Sherlock would not have smoked a Calabash as he is traditionally shewn smoking. The tradition arises from the better balance of a Calabash allowing the actor (again - this is fiction) to gesticulate heroically while dangling a pipe. A straight or bent Billiard (more likely a choice in late Victorian England) or clay (as written??) would require too much effort to hold in the mouth alone or take a hand to hold (thus depriving the actor of his ability to act "effectively") to spout the required rubbish effectively.


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## El wedo del milagro (Jul 3, 2012)

I seem to remember Sherlock smoking cherrywood pipes and clay pipes.


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## blendtobac (Sep 14, 2011)

In the 56 short stories and 4 novels, the only pipes that were mentioned were a clay, a cherrywood and a briar. As mentioned, the calabash only became identified with Holmes because of actors, primarily William Gillette who played Holmes on stage. Later, as a kind of a wink and nod to the fact that the calabash was never mentioned in the stories, one was shown in the Granada TV series with Jeremy Brett.


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## Shemp75 (May 26, 2012)

G&H Dark Birdseye and Kendel Kentucky are my 2 favorite shag baccies.


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## jco3rd (Apr 1, 2013)

That description of "ship's" tobacco on the first page sounds terrifying!!


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## madbricky (Mar 29, 2013)

I'm very fond of Daughters and Ryan shags such as the dark and smoky Ryback series and I use the Three Sails straight as it comes. Both are very high quality flue cured fine shag designed by Mark Ryan I believe. Russ sells it.


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